tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5206380617235471991.post8658677356579465431..comments2015-01-11T07:15:50.939-05:00Comments on The Bowery Boys: New York City History: Red Hook, Brooklyn: A rich seafaring history, organized crime and the isolation of a beleaguered neighborhoodThe Bowery Boys - Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15973633888975286268noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5206380617235471991.post-29249081038681871642014-07-06T13:05:36.640-04:002014-07-06T13:05:36.640-04:00I also grew up in Red Hook and have great memories...I also grew up in Red Hook and have great memories about it..had good friends also. A lot of good people came oit of Red Hook as well as the notorious...I wouldn&#39;t change growing up any where else...<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5206380617235471991.post-234577321762695372013-04-23T01:27:57.789-04:002013-04-23T01:27:57.789-04:00I grew up in Red Hook from 1949 to 1966. My father...I grew up in Red Hook from 1949 to 1966. My father was a supervisor on the docks from the 30&#39;s to the 50&#39;s. I have wonderful memories of Red Hook. Most families were good people, went to church, helped each other. We enjoyed the Red Hook pool, used the park and athletic fields all the time. Enjoyed teen years hanging out in the ice cream parlar just like any other town. We would swim off the docks. Made trips to Coney Island, Lk. Ronknonoma, Rye Beach, and were active with church activities. We would play games in the street like kick the can, jump rope, ride bikes and roller skate. We supported local stores and I have to be honest and say that included fathers at the bars. <br />You could find trouble if you wanted it, just like any other place. I feel Red Hook got a bad rep from people who lived outside of it. We had only one way to get into and out of Red Hook, the Bus. We were an isolated part of the city, and that made us feel like a little town. Many good things happened there, but that was never given any exposure. Only the negative stuff got out. Too bad, because the area was filled with wonderful people. If the stories were told of the familes and lives of the average Red Hooker, it would be interesting, rich and real. Too bad no one wants to know the real Hookers. We had lots of colorful caractors, with unusual stories. As for Al Capone, I really don&#39;t think he was much of a presence in Red Hook. Most of the crime came from outside and dumped there. <br />I can not speak for Red Hook after 1966, but prior to that it was a wonderful place to live. We all took care of each other, understood each other and never looked down on thoes less fortunate. I am now in a beautiful community out in the country, but the people here are not as warm or honest as the people from Red Hook.<br />So when you do your research on Red Hook, give the average Joe a little respect and add stories of the good side of the Hook. <br />All neighborhoods have good and bad. Red Hook was not the war zone they expose it to be up to 1966. It was a community of people who were hard workers and some down on their luck. No one was rich, just hard working blue collar people. I hope it comes back to life. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5206380617235471991.post-76123582885106924852013-02-08T22:40:30.549-05:002013-02-08T22:40:30.549-05:00I found your website very interesting, though havn...I found your website very interesting, though havn&#39;t been able to view any of the podcasts yet ! My great-grandfather died after falling into the Red Hook basin in November 1936, he was Dr Alexander de Soto, (the original Dr de Soto, long before the mouse dentist), and had been working (age 96) as a Dietitian aboard the Luxury Yacht Centaur. It appears that this yacht (owned by Centaur INC of Park Ave, Manhattan) had been taking wealthy passengers on tours of the Great Lakes, presumably via the Erie Canal. Despite lots of internet research I couln&#39;t dig up any further detail about this yacht or the mysterious &quot;Centaur Inc&quot; said to be owned by a group of wealthy New York and Chicago capitalists. Old Dr de Soto, who was quite famous in his day, got a brief obit in the Nov 1936 Time Magazine, and a more detailed write up in the Nov 12th issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle (page 9). Dr de Soto was returning to the Centaur around midnight, it was moored in the Robbins Dry Dock at the foot of 23rd street. The night was dark and I guess he was a bit shakey considering his age, he lost his footing on the gang plank and fell into the icy water between the ship and the dock.<br />three of his shipmates managed to fish him out alive, but the &quot;ambulance doctor&quot; found him in a bad way, and he died in the back of the ambulance only a few blocks away !!<br />I wonder if any interested New Yorkers reading this, could shed any more light on this old story ? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5206380617235471991.post-58820870111140019402012-01-17T17:23:19.304-05:002012-01-17T17:23:19.304-05:00Article about Red Hook and Brooklyn so interesting...Article about Red Hook and Brooklyn so interesting! I live on the other side of the Hudson on the Jersey side. Ironically I never get to go to Brooklyn. All my knowledge of Brooklyn is second hand info like this!Alexandrahttp://www.petskidsphotography.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5206380617235471991.post-60789427463726516742012-01-15T13:37:38.053-05:002012-01-15T13:37:38.053-05:00Wow, thanks for that. I found this short clip on Y...Wow, thanks for that. I found this short clip on YouTube. It&#39;s obviously posted by a Star Trek fan, as it focuses on Walter Koenig, TV&#39;s Chekov!<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI_zh6fhM7EThe Bowery Boys - Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15973633888975286268noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5206380617235471991.post-35083619940650641582012-01-15T13:07:40.083-05:002012-01-15T13:07:40.083-05:00Adding to Red Hook&#39;s literary cachet, in the f...Adding to Red Hook&#39;s literary cachet, in the fifties Harlan Ellison went undercover as &quot;Cheech Beldone&quot; to join a local street gang called The Barons. The material gathered from this nervy venture ended up in his books Web of the City and Memos from Purgatory, the latter eventually adapted for The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (starring a young James Caan).Rob Hillhttp://crayolathief.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com